NC Central coach travels to NCAA tournament without family after son burned in accident

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LeVelle Moton (Credit: NCCU athletics)

NC Central coach travels to NCAA tournament without family after son burned in accident

LeVelle Moton (Credit: NCCU athletics)

SAN ANTONIO — North Carolina Central coach LeVelle Moton’s family was unable to travel with the team to their NCAA tournament game against Iowa State because his son, LeVelle, Jr., 1, was badly burned Tuesday night and remains in the hospital, according to the Charlotte Observer.

Moton released details of the accident during his pre-tournament availability Thursday, saying LeVelle, Jr. knocked a cup of hot coffee off the counter and suffered burns to his face.

“I wasn’t going to come until the doctors told me he was going to be OK,” Moton told the Observer. “I had to get that clarification. I was going to stay. I spent the night in the hospital with him. I wasn’t leaving. I stayed the hospital and went through the proper requirements and team of doctors.”

This is N.C. Central’s first-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament.

“It just doesn’t feel the same without my son and my daughter and my wife who sacrifice so much to allow me to become a better person and a better basketball coach,” Moton told the Observer. “So that’s humbled me. That’s put the pin to my balloon right there. So I’ve just got to get myself together, which I will, to go coach these 12, 13 young men that we have.”